“But does he have that ability? Yes, he does…Does he have that gift? Yes, he does.”

Well, gee Barry…are you not merciful. But he softens up towards the end and added:

“He has got, what you call, the gift,…I had it. Cabrera knows he has it, too. You don’t try to analyze it. You can’t teach it. You’re born with it. And he’s got it.

“That’s why I enjoy watching him so much, and I couldn’t be happier for him, knowing that he’s taking advantage of that gift.”

Barry’s words may come off harsher than need be, but under the not so thinly veiled arrogance is a man who knows baseball better than most those on this Earth.

Bonds is the product of the game and was molded by it, so if there’s anyone worthy of giving critique, surely it’s him. But ultimately the proof would lie in the tale of the stats. It’s premature to compare 22 year’s worth of stats to 11 years, but as Cabrera’s going one could rightly make the argument that he’s the closest thing to Barry this era.

Currently Cabrera has a .387 batting average through 42 games a .457 on base percentage and 47 RBI. Cabrera may not have the MVPs that Bonds has but he does hold the honor of being a triple crown winner–yeah, yeah different era, but it’s a feat even Bonds acknowledges he strived for but came up short.

When the guy with 7 MVPs and 762 homers speaks it’s best to listen, but there does seem to be just a small amount of sour grapes behind Bond’s words. The fact this comes a day after Cabrera jacked three homers in a game doesn’t help either.

1 COMMENT

Even all-time greats are bound to be surpassed at some point. There will always rise someone that will breakout and be the best. Every generation has its own greats but not necessarily as good as the other generations. They have different skills and knowledge of the game.